Well, it’s the last day of March, so I may as well do my yardage tally and post up the year to date totals. 🙂

So it would seem for me, so it would seem.

I have been having a bear of a time this year with keeping projects on needles and I think I’ve frogged close to half of what I’ve cast on. This weekend has been horrible that way. The scarf from last post? Frogged. Didn’t care for the pattern enough to figure out the instructions. When it comes down to it, I’m not so much a lace knitter. It has now been cast on as a second Ishbel. Then yesterday, I cast on a Zig Zag blanket, worked on it for about two hours, and decided I hated it. Frogged. It has now been recast on with two sizes smaller needles and many more stitches so that I would like the look of the fabric better and I could do longer zig zags like in Grumperina’s Jaywalker socks.

It’s really hard to rack up the yardage this way. 🙂 I’m hoping the rest of 2009 will go better then the first quarter has. Not a great year for knitting so far.

Ishbel is finished; I’m waiting for my photographer to get home and help me take pictures. So I’ve cast on for my next small project instead: the Night Song shawl, which I’m making into another scarf. I wasn’t sure about it the first few rows, but as I’m getting further along, I can see the pattern and I’m warming up to it.

As blasphemous as it may be to say, while I love Sundara’s colors, her sock base is not my favorite. I’ll be trying out some others I have before I say for sure, but this may be the end of sock yarn buying from her. I’m hoping it’s just a “gimp” skein of yarn, a lot of the CaWG seemed to be, and that’s what is going on with this particular yarn. I have quite a bit of sock coming from her in May. There is nothing worse then loving a dyer’s colors, but not the yarn base they use.

I’m considering the possibility of putting a third project on needles again. I have a fair amount of random sock yarn that I will never use for socks but is too variegated for me to use for other items like hats or accessories. I’m planning to start a Zig and Zag blanket, but much larger then “pram” sized. I would like a small-ish blanket to snuggle under while I knit, and what better way to use up odds n ends as well as yarns I know I won’t use because I couldn’t resist them, but I have no use for such variegated yarns? I’m thinking I’d like to make it about 2-2.5 times as wide as the size given, which is just over 21″ wide. I’ll be frogging the Jaywalkers and using that yarn as either the border or color for stripes instead. Then as I have leftovers, like I did for Ishbel, I have something to use them for rather then wondering what to do with 24 odd grams of fingering weight yarn. I’ll get a lot more use out of a blanket then mitts, or yet another hat, or scarf anyway. 🙂

The knitting for my Viking modded CPH is finished. The sleeves are getting a good soak as I type and will block and dry overnight. By tomorrow, I hope to have a completed sweater and I can finally move onto something else.

WHOO.

Overall, it was a great knit and I enjoyed it the entire time: I just didn’t enjoy how much time it took. One of my favorite parts was watching for the purple/lilac bits to pop up in the colorway and then admire how they looked on the right side.

If all goes well, I’ll have pictures tomorrow or Tuesday. Now I think it’s time to read the instructions for Ishbel and look at casting on for that tonight.

The first of the sleeves is done. My unofficial goal is to get the second sleeve off needles by Sunday or Monday. Then I have to block them, seam and weave in the few ends I left. I’m hoping to have my first big FO of the year done in time for our next yardage tally on Tuesday.

So far this month (meaning as of Tuesday), I’ve knit close 700yds, almost all of it worsted and in this current project. Not bad, but I have been hoping to maybe hit a mile in yarn every month if possible. If I can move onto a fingering weight project or two, I may be able to make it. If not, I’ll definitely break the 1000 yd mark, and that’s fine too.

I’ve been working on destashing at Ravelry and trying not to add to my current stash unless I have to. (Acquiring more of yarn I realize I may not have enough for with specific projects is one of the only exceptions I’m making to “no new yarn.”) I *did* buy some yarn that was supposed to be in back at the end of January that finally popped up last week, but I’m hoping that’s the only new stuff I’ll be bringing in until I can get some more projects done.

Time to go cast on that second sleeve. With any luck, I may get the ribbing on it done before the night is up: children permitting.

So my second estimated finish date for my CPH is going to pass me by before too long. Three weeks ago, I thought for sure I’d be finished by this coming Sunday but it’s not going to happen unless I can magic two knit sleeves out of my butt. 🙂 If anyone knows how to do that, please let me know, it would be some trick! Useful, too.

A pretty photo for everyone reading this.

I mentioned in one of my last posts that I fell off the Resolution wagon and hard. Last night, I decided to make a list of all the projects I have the yarn to do, right now, and realized that I can definitely go awhile with no new yarn. I might even be able to go the rest of 2009 without any new yarn acquiring.

For those curious, here is the list:

I apparently wasn’t the only one in my group that enjoyed the friendly competition; we’re doing a March Snob Diet! This time, I’m hoping to stay in the top 5. Doubt I can win when the top 3 knitters last month were at 2990+ yds…but top 5? I might be able to swing that. The back piece on my CPH slowed me down as well as having too many projects on needles. I am now remedying that and hoping to finish my gathered scarf in the next day or two so I can then focus on the Hoodie and cast-on for my next sweater project. I’ll do some work on my mother’s socks inbetween. I’m not in a huge hurry on those: I hope to have one full pair finished by May when we take a trip back home. Those have always been intended to be a second project to do a round or two when I feel like it sort of thing.